Sharia Law Not Supported In Indonesia

A common belief among many people in western societies is that Muslims throughout the world support sharia law. Indonesia is a democratic nation ruled by a Constitution which also makes legal the presence of various religions. Undoubtedly, a minority in the country support the idea of imposing Muslim law on all people, but the important fact is they are the minority, not the majority. A recent poll reveals a steady consistent decline in favor of imposing Muslim law. It fell from 43% in favor last year to 36% now supporting the idea. Several mayors in small towns are playing the religious hate card in order to drum up support for their election. But, there is absolutely no evidence of any massive agreement with transforming a society which has diversity of religion into one in which the Muslim religion would be law for all.

Religious hysteria is common in all societies, particularly when there is strife and anxiety. Critics seeking to classify all Muslims as in favor of “terrorism” cite society such as Yemen or Somalia. Indonesia contains the largest number of Muslims in the world. It is not in favor of sharia law. The bottom line is that most Muslims are not in favor of such laws.

I am Indonesian. Rarely foreigners think this way. Most of them think Indonesia apply sharia fully. In fact we do not dislike sharia, instead we are greatly inspired by the idea of sharia. It is just that we implement it in regard with the current life context relevancy. We call it modern sharia.